{"id":3949,"date":"2019-05-26T08:29:42","date_gmt":"2019-05-26T12:29:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/?p=3949"},"modified":"2021-12-17T01:02:19","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T06:02:19","slug":"guru-tattva-some-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/guru-tattva-some-points\/","title":{"rendered":"Guru Tattva, some points"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What is diksa (initiation)?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Srila Jiva Gosvami explains diksa in his Bhakti-sandarbha (283):
\ndivya\u1e41 j\u00f1\u0101na\u1e41 yato dady\u0101t
\nkury\u0101t p\u0101pasya sa\u1e45k\u1e63ayam
\ntasm\u0101t d\u012bk\u1e63eti s\u0101 prokt\u0101
\nde\u015bikais tattva-kovidai\u1e25
\n\u201cD\u012bk\u1e63\u0101 is the process by which one can awaken his transcendental knowledge and vanquish all reactions caused by sinful activity. A person expert in the study of the revealed scriptures knows this process as d\u012bk\u1e63\u0101.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How important is diksa?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Guru Tattva, or the truth about the spiritual master, is one of the most important item in Krishna Consciousness.<\/p>\n

Srila Prabhupada mentions the Hari-bhakti-vil\u0101sa (2.6) quoting the following injunction from the Visnu-yamala:
\nad\u012bk\u1e63itasya v\u0101moru
\nk\u1e5bta\u1e41 sarva\u1e41 nirarthakam
\npa\u015bu-yonim av\u0101pnoti
\nd\u012bk\u1e63\u0101-virahito jana\u1e25
\n\u201cUnless one is initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, all his devotional activities are useless. A person who is not properly initiated can descend again into the animal species.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Srila Rupa Gosvami is the most important item, so much so that in the Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu he writes down the 64 most important disciplines in the bhakti, and the acceptance of a bonafide Guru are the first five.
\n(1) accepting the shelter of the lotus feet of a bona fide spiritual master,
\n(2) becoming initiated by the spiritual master and learning how to discharge devotional service from him,
\n(3) obeying the orders of the spiritual master with faith and devotion,
\n(4) following in the footsteps of great \u0101c\u0101ryas (teachers) under the direction of the spiritual master,
\n(5) inquiring from the spiritual master how to advance in K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness,<\/p>\n

Furthermore Srila Prabhupada says:
\n\u201cYes, there is definitely a vast difference between initiated and non-initiated. One who is initiated is authorized, and one who is not initiated is not authorized.\u201d
\nLetter to Satsvarupa, Los Angeles, 14 November 1968<\/p>\n

Therefore those who think that can advance in spiritual life without accepting a bonafide spiritual master, learn and serve him, is simply deluding himself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About second initiation<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Second initiation is important. Srila Prabhupada quotes Srila Sanatana Gosvami and Srila Jiva Gosvami (Hari Bhakti Vilasa 2.3-4 and Bhakti Sandharbha 238):
\ndvij\u0101n\u0101m anupet\u0101n\u0101\u1e41
\nsvakarm\u0101dhyayan\u0101di\u1e63u
\nyath\u0101dhik\u0101ro n\u0101st\u012bha
\nsy\u0101c copanayan\u0101d anu
\ntath\u0101tr\u0101d\u012bk\u1e63it\u0101n\u0101\u1e41 tu
\nmantra-dev\u0101rcan\u0101di\u1e63u
\nn\u0101dhik\u0101ro \u2019sty ata\u1e25 kury\u0101d
\n\u0101tm\u0101na\u1e41 \u015biva-sa\u1e41stutam
\n\u201cEven though born in a br\u0101hma\u1e47a family, one cannot engage in Vedic rituals without being initiated and having a sacred thread. Although born in a br\u0101hma\u1e47a family, one becomes a br\u0101hma\u1e47a only after initiation and the sacred thread ceremony. Unless one is initiated as a br\u0101hma\u1e47a, one cannot worship the holy name properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Initiation is when the Guru accepts you verbally or when formal initiation happens?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You first ask the Guru to accept you. The moment he says yes, you are his disciple and you should act as one.
\nHowever formal initiation must be there, so much so that the Guru arranges for a fire ceremony.
\nIf it was \u201cjust a formality\u201d, meaning useless, then Srila Prabhupada wouldn\u2019t have initiated all his disciples with a fire ceremony and he himself wouldn\u2019t have been initiated with a fire ceremony.
\nDuring the fire ceremony you become officially a member of the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya and will receive the blessings of the Acaryas and of the Lord.<\/p>\n

Verbal acceptance by the Guru and formal ceremony is one thing, and both are necessary steps.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is just a glimpse of a very large topic. Also in the future we\u2019ll deal with the topic if by chanting Hare Krishna one could skip all the steps of accepting a spiritual master, taking initiation and so forth or not.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

– Manonatha Dasa (ACBSP)
\n26 may 2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is diksa (initiation)? Srila Jiva Gosvami explains diksa in his Bhakti-sandarbha (283): divya\u1e41 j\u00f1\u0101na\u1e41 yato dady\u0101t kury\u0101t p\u0101pasya sa\u1e45k\u1e63ayam tasm\u0101t d\u012bk\u1e63eti s\u0101 prokt\u0101 de\u015bikais tattva-kovidai\u1e25 \u201cD\u012bk\u1e63\u0101 is the process by which one can awaken his … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-30 09:37:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}